Alternating Analog/DigitalJanuary 23, 2018
I once heard it described that the universe seems to be viewable through both an "analog"/continuous lens as well as a "digital"/discrete lens. And furthermore, that as you zoom out from the minute, there can be a kind of back-and-forth between analog and digital models making the most sense.

It makes me wonder whether computation will evolve in a similar way. Maybe our deep neural nets will evolve into systems that mix and match continuous and discrete layers, giving rise to a synergy between the two that takes its abilities to the next level.

That's a pretty raw and not-thought-through idea, but it has a certain ring to it for me...

Tech WatchDecember 29, 2017
As a technology person, I find it fun to watch things progress. Here's a list of various things that I'm looking forward to watching in the coming year(s):

Falcon Heavy launch, especially the simultaneous landing of its two side cores back on land.

The Boring Company

Falcon 9 launch cadence

Crew Dragon's unmanned launch

Crew Dragon's crewed launch

Tesla Model 3's production ramp-up

Falcon 9 fairing recovery and reuse

Autonomous Vehicles (Including, hopefully, the "coast to coast" drive from LA to NYC using Autopilot as promised by Elon)

Machine Learning / Deep Learning / GPUs

DeepMind's efforts to win at Starcraft

Amazon

Automated package delivery

Advanced automation, "lights out" factories

Tesla Semi

Solar roofs

Gigafactory construction and production ramp

Hyperloop

Blue Origin New Shepherd

Air taxis, autonomous aircraft, electric aircraft

EV growth

Blue Origin New Glenn

Supercharger Network growth

Elon's goal of "reflight within 24 hours"

"Tesla Network" (autonomous ridesharing fleet)

Tesla Powerwall / Powerpack

Solar prices, Battery prices

SpaceX's Boca Chica launch site

CPU lithography: 10 nm, 7 nm, 5 nm, etc.

SSD sizes / speeds

SpaceX's Mars ambitions.

Elon's Neuralink efforts

Possibility of space tourists during a lunar flyby in 2019

Genetics / CRISPR / Genome Write project / cures for diseases

Draw Giraffe, See a MovieOctober 8, 2016
It struck me today as I was drawing giraffes with 4 year old Hazel that within a few years it should be possible for a child to draw an animal, whether it be a giraffe or a dog, and have the computer use that as a style blueprint.

It should then be able to take the pre-rendered model for a short movie involving that animal and use the stylized version of the animal when rendering a new cut of that movie.

It might also be possible for the child to give some direction about what should happen in the movie, such as the giraffe running from a lion and then escaping by jumping over a river, and have the movie include those components.

How far away are we from that? Could a compelling prototype be built within 10 years perhaps?